Pumpkin Spice Lattes Lead to Curious Results
by SearchingForMercury
Summary: Maria walks into Starbucks to try the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte and walks out with something a little more interesting.


The cafe was full of the usual smells: coffee, perfume from the person standing in front of her, and something baked - maybe a cake or some muffins, maybe a bunch of things. Maria had visited cafes before, but it was her first time in a _Starbucks_. There was only one real reason she was there, and that was because she needed to see what all the fuss was about. There had been several posts on her Tumblr feed about how fall was the time for pumpkin spice lattes, accompanied by various pictures, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to try one.

The line went by quickly, as did the ordering, and she was waiting by the counter for the famed drink when she noticed a girl sitting by the window. Sure, this wasn't unusual, but there was a guy trying to chat her up. No doubt telling her how pretty she was, because she _was_ , but the girl cringed a bit, twisting a ring on her finger and showing it to him. This made him embarrassed, almost, and he walked away with a face that had a bit more color to it.

When Maria's drink came, she blew on it for a great long while before taking a sip. It fogged up her glasses; some called them hipster glasses, but she called them 'grandpa goggles.' Another sip and she had coffee dribbling down into her scarf.

"Shit," she muttered, grabbing a wad of napkins from the dispenser. By the time she had cleaned up and looked around for a spot to sit, another guy was talking with the girl. This time he had friends. So Maria went to investigate.

"I told you, I'm getting married," the girl was saying. "And I'd really rather you stop talking to me now." She had a book sitting next to her cup.

"Don't be like that," one of the guys said. He had a baseball cap on despite the flurries falling outside the window.

"Then what am I _supposed_ to be like?" the girl snapped. Her glare could melt the snow off the streets.

That's when Maria stepped in. "Hey there, sorry I'm late," she said, trying to give the girl a silent message without seeming too obvious as she sat down. "Traffic was a bitch."

The girl started to play with her ring as her lips pressed together in a way Maria couldn't decipher - upset at the swearing? Trying not to smile? She didn't know.

Maria looked up at the guys, trying to look expectant with her eyebrows raised. "Can I help you?" she asked. She had a friend, Francine, who could look a person up and down with such an expression, it filled women and men alike with shame and low self-esteem. Maria wished she could somehow channel that ability in order to make the guys go away.

"No," the guy said, shifting his weight to the other foot. He hit his friend in the arm and nodded to the door. "Nah, we were leaving. Nice talking to you." He addressed the last part to the girl. She just glared at him again. As soon as the door shut behind them, the girl looked at her.

"Thank you," she said, relaxing. "They were being ridiculously persistent. I was trying to read."

Maria nodded towards the book. "What're you reading?" she asked.

" _Treasure Island_ ," she replied.

Maria nodded. "I've seen _Treasure Planet_ ," she offered.

The girl smiled. "Close, but not quite," she said. "I'm Anneliese, by the way."

"Maria," she replied. Her gaze wandered down to the ring Anneliese had been showing off before. "Getting married?" she asked.

"Hm?" Anneliese said, before realizing what Maria was talking about. "Oh, yes! Sometime in the, uh-" she glanced outside "-spring. Haven't decided yet."

Maria nodded even so she wanted to laugh. "Kind of pushing it, aren't you?" she asked. "Most people plan these things out to a T. You look like the sort, even."

Anneliese tilted her head to the side, but Maria couldn't tell if it was in agreement or just to acknowledge Maria's statement. "Most of the planning is from our parents," she continued. "They certainly love to fuss."

"Uh-huh," Maria said. She took a sip of her drink and let the silence fill in the cracks to their conversation. Let Anneliese's words hang there. Then Maria leaned forward a little and, with a smirk that could make anyone feel uneasy, whispered, "I suppose it's tradition to propose with the girl's class ring?"

The color and expression drained from Anneliese's face faster than Maria could shoot a gun - which was saying something. "It's, well," she said.

Maria nodded.

"It's not, I mean it's really - oh shucks," the other girl muttered and turned to the window. "I'm not getting married, okay? It was just something to keep people away."

"I figured," Maria said.

Anneliese looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "Then why'd you let me go on like that?" she asked. She sounded pouty and if Maria wasn't sitting across from her, she'd say she _was_.

"Because it was fun," Maria replied. "You seemed like the easy type to tease. But anyways, what are you drinking? It doesn't look like it's from here."

"That's because it's not," Anneliese replied, turning back to her. She glanced at Maria's cardboard cup. "I don't like much of what's on the menu, so I bring my own. Nobody has ever told me I can't do it." She shrugged a little.

It was probably because she was so pretty in the face. As much as Maria thought the system was unfair, it was how the world worked - the pretty people would get the most attention. Her brother's girlfriend was the same. On the other hand, maybe it really was okay to bring your own food into Starbucks. Heck if she knew, it was her first time, but she _felt_ like it wasn't an okay thing to do.

"This pumpkin thing isn't too bad," Maria said.

Anneliese smiled, twisting the ring on her finger. "It's certainly something," she replied. "Are you in school?"

Maria wasn't sure what prompted that question. Did she look the type? "What makes you say that?" she said.

Anneliese shrugged. "You look young, I just wondered if you were going to the college near here," she said.

Maria snorted. "I look _young_? And how old are you, exactly?" she asked.

"Nineteen, but the point still remains," Anneliese said and took a sip from her cup.

"That makes it even weirder, then, because I'm twenty-two and older than you!" she said. She pointed a finger at her, like a gun, and without changing her expression said, "And I just rhymed."

Anneliese rolled her eyes. "Were you a poet and didn't even know it?" she asked in a flat sort of way.

"No," Maria replied. "I do not go that far."

"Uh-huh," Anneliese said, raising an eyebrow. Maria often wished the muscles on her face would let her do that, too. "You still haven't answered my question, though. College kid?"

"Yeah," Maria said, scratching at her hair. "And if we're going by the usual questions, then I'm a history major and probably minoring in something like math or science. It's still in the works. What about you?"

"Liberal arts," Anneliese replied. "Probably. Undeclared." She gave a little shrug. "I'm thinking something musical for a minor, but we'll see."

Maria perked up. She had been in band all throughout high school. "What kind of instrument?" she asked.

Anneliese sighed. "And that is where the problem lies," she said. "Too many. I can't just decide on one, you know? It'll probably end up being piano, because that's what I'm best at, but that doesn't mean I don't like playing other instruments."

"Oh cool," Maria replied. "You should play sometime. I mean, like, where I can hear. Because I want to." She was stumbling with her words and she knew it. How to fix it, though. "There's that piano on campus, the one that sits outside and is painted all sorts of crazy colors."

Anneliese looked out the window and back at her.

"When the weather clears up," Maria said, rolling her eyes. "Of course. And in the meantime you can brush up on your skills! Not that, you know, you _need_ the brushing up. I don't actually know."

"Uh- _huh_."

"But I'd like to hear," Maria pushed on. "If you don't mind."

Anneliese looked as if she were pushing down a smile. "I don't," she said. "But you seem awfully interested in music for a history major. Do you play something yourself?"

She hadn't expected that. "Uh, kind of. I played the flute in high school. Band class. That sort of thing," she said.

Anneliese took a sip from her drink. "Well then, maybe we should play together some day. A duet," she said, smiling, and nodded to the window. "When the weather turns warm. And maybe you can brush up on _your_ skills in the meantime."

Maria felt her face heat up. "Uh, yeah," she said, looking down at her coffee. "That would be cool. I'm not very good, so you can't laugh, but maybe it'll sound okay with you being there, I don't know." She was rambling. Shit.

"I'm sure it will be fine," Anneliese said. "Besides, it's only for fun."

"Yeah," Maria said. How did the conversation go so, so far off the path she intended? She was the one who made people feel unsure of themselves, not the other way around. "Well, uh, I should probably go. I've got class in, like, an hour. I think."

"What class?" Anneliese asked.

"Some bullshit physics prerequisite," Maria replied, rolling her eyes. She was beginning to feel normal again. Calm. "I don't get why we can't just test out of stupid classes. If they could crack into my head, they'd see all the info is already in there."

Anneliese gave a short laugh. "Well, they're always about getting money, right?" she said.

Maria groaned, rolling her eyes again. "I just wanna take the real classes already," she whined.

"You'll get there," Anneliese said. "I kind of like the basic classes, as it helps me figure out what I actually want to do with my time in college. But you're right, I'd much rather be able to have a choice. For one, math feels silly for art or culinary." She shrugged.

Maria nodded before remembering she had said she needed to go. "Oh right, well, I should get going," she said and stood up.

"I'll see you around, then," Anneliese said, smiling. "Maybe."

Maria paused for a moment. "We can, uh, turn that maybe into a definitely," she said and swallowed, "if you, uh, give me your phone number."

At first Maria thought she had gone too far because Anneliese just stared at her for a couple heartbeats. But then Anneliese sort of nodded and reached for her purse. She had an iPhone and the case was one of those expensive kinds - invincible to everything. It made Maria wonder if there was maybe a reason for that.

They swapped phones and Maria's throat was dry the entire time she was entering in her information. She had to retype a few things because her fingers were shaking. She hoped she didn't actually _look_ as nervous as she felt, when she took her phone back.

"I'll see you around, then," Anneliese said again. "Definitely."

Maria grinned. "Yeah," she said, lifting her phone a bit. "Definitely."


End file.
